In many applications, it is necessary to provide electrical wires from outside of a sealed fluid container to an interior of the fluid container. For example, in a fuel tank it may be necessary to provide electrical power to an electric motor fuel pump received within the fuel tank, and to provide electrical wires communicating various sensors within the fuel tank with components external to the fuel tank.
Particularly with gasoline and other fuels, it is important to limit the leakage of liquids and/or gases out of the fuel container. To do this, the electrical connections extending through the fuel tank must be sealed to prevent the escape to the atmosphere of hazardous hydrocarbon fuel vapors. Various so-called pass through electrical connectors are known and used to reduce the escape to the atmosphere of the hydrocarbon fuel vapors. However, even with a seal between the electrical wires and the connector, fluid may flow within the wire itself between the insulation and individual wire strands of the wires thereby providing a leak path out of the fuel tank.
As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, one method to seal an electrical wire 1 and prevent fluid from passing through the wire out of a fuel tank or other liquid and/or gas container, has been to remove the insulation 2 from a desired segment of the wire 1, to then untwist and separate the various wire strands 3 from each other, and to thereafter fill the space between the wire strands with solder 4 or another sealing material. While this process is effective at preventing the leakage of fluid through the wire, it is time consuming, labor intensive and hence costly to perform.